Newsletter :: April 2018
- GUEST POST: Music or Silence... by Tim Lebbon
Risingshadow has the honour of publishing a guest post by Tim Lebbon.
Tim LebbonClick here to visit author official website.Tim Lebbon (born 1969) is a horror and dark fantasy writer, and a judge at the 2005 World Fantasy Convention.
Tim Lebbon was born in London. His short story "Reconstructing Amy" won the Bram Stoker Award for Short Fiction in 2001 and his novel Dusk won the 2007 August Derleth Award from the British Fantasy Society for best novel of the year. His novelisation of the movie 30 Days of Night became a New York Times bestseller and won a Scribe Award in 2008. Tim lived in Devon until he was eight and then in Newport until the age of 26. He now lives in Goytre, Monmouthshire with his wife and two children.
The Folded Land
Relics #2
by Tim Lebbon"Tim Lebbon's Relics opens a darkly beautiful glimpse into another world, one lurking in the shadows." - James Rollins, New York Times bestseller
In the dark underbelly of our world, there’s a black market in arcane things — living and dead. Angela Gough has been pulled into this world, making her a criminal on the run.
In London she encountered the Kin — satyrs and centaurs, Nephilim and wraiths, they are hunted and slaughtered for their body parts. Fleeing back to the United States, Angela discovers that the Kin are everywhere, and they are tired of being prey.
Amazon: Check AvailabilityGUEST POST: Music or Silence... by Tim Lebbon
- A review of Dream City Blues (edited by Mark Howard Jones)
Dream City Blues (edited by Mark Howard Jones) was published by theEXAGGERATEDpress in December 2017.
Information about Mark Howard Jones:
Mark Howard Jones comes from a town in south Wales where it once rained fish. A former BBC journalist, he is editor of the anthology Cthulhu Cymraeg: Lovecraftian Tales from Wales and author of the collections Songs from Spider Street and Brightest Black. He lives in Cardiff.
Click here to visit his official website.
Information about Dream City Blues:
THE CITY HAS TWO FACES
Our long-cherished dream of Utopia is always just out of reach. We are doomed to know what we want but never to reach it. Inside this book are stories of cities filled with dreams that have become nightmares.
THE CITY WEARS MANY MASKS
From shining towers to filthy back alleys; from bright sunlit parks to dingy, cramped basements; this misguided tour through our dream cities is beset with dangerous pitfalls.
Here are 11 diverse visions of cities that are unsettling, horrific, outlandish and bizarre in turn. Come and visit... but don't forget your return ticket.
Great fiction from Allen Ashley, Parker Weston, Stephen Oram, Rhys Hughes, Ken Poyner, Kirsty C Crimmond, Adam Marks, Bob Lock, Toti O'Brien, Tony Lee, Sean Gill, and poetry from Matt Merritt.
A REVIEW OF DREAM CITY BLUES (EDITED BY MARK HOWARD JONES)
- Guest post by Jennifer Brozek
Risingshadow has the honour of publishing a guest post by Jennifer Brozek.
About the author:
Jennifer Brozek is a Hugo Award finalist and a multiple Bram Stoker Award finalist. Winner of the Australian Shadows Award for best edited publication, Jennifer has edited sixteen anthologies with more on the way, including the acclaimed Chicks Dig Gaming and Shattered Shields anthologies. Author of Apocalypse Girl Dreaming, Industry Talk, the Last Days of Salton Academy, and the acclaimed Melissa Allen series, she has more than seventy published short stories, and is the Creative Director of Apocalypse Ink Productions.
Jennifer is a freelance author for numerous RPG companies. Winner of the Scribe, Origins, and ENnie awards, her contributions to RPG sourcebooks include Dragonlance, Colonial Gothic, Shadowrun, Serenity, Savage Worlds, and White Wolf SAS. Jennifer is the author of the award winning YA BattleTech novel, The Nellus Academy Incident, and Shadowrun novella, Doc Wagon 19. She has also written for the AAA MMO, Aion, and the award winning videogame, Shadowrun Returns.
When she is not writing her heart out, she is gallivanting around the Pacific Northwest in its wonderfully mercurial weather. Jennifer is an active member of SFWA, HWA, and IAMTW. Read more about her at jenniferbrozek.com or follow her on Twitter at @JenniferBrozek.
About To Fight the Black Wind (Arkham Horror):
"Her malady - nightmares that left her bloody - seemed, at first, to be a common self-harm complex. Then I looked at the wounds. The mind is powerful, but I have never seen the mind create wounds like these. Little did I know her wounds were just the first of many mysteries I would face while caring for Josephine."
-Jennifer Brozek, To Fight the Black Wind
Not all patients can be cured - or want to be.
Psychologist Carolyn Fern’s newest patient suffers from nightmares that leave glyph-shaped wounds across her skin. The case is odd, even for an institution like Arkham Sanatorium, where the unusual becomes the everyday. Things become even more complicated after the young woman claims to have met Malachi - Carolyn’s former patient whose treatment was cut short when he was brutally murdered - in her dreams. What is the link between the two, and how can Carolyn help a patient who, it seems, does not wish to be cured?
Book link:
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2018/2/23/to-fight-the-black-wind/
GUEST POST by Jennifer Brozek
- A review of James Brogden's The Hollow Tree
James Brogden's The Hollow Tree was published by Titan Books in March 2018.
Information about James Brogden:
James Brogden is the author of The Narrows, Tourmaline and The Realt. His horror and fantasy stories have appeared in anthologies and periodicals ranging from The Big Issue to the British Fantasy Society Award-winning Alchemy Press. He spent many years living in Australia, but now lives in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire with his wife and two daughters.Click here to visit his official website.
Information about The Hollow Tree:
WHO DANCED WITH MARY BEFORE SHE DIED?
After her hand is amputated following a tragic accident, Rachel Cooper suffers vivid nightmares of a woman imprisoned in the trunk of a hollow tree, screaming for help. When she begins to experience phantom sensations of leaves and earth with her lost hand, Rachel is terrified she is going mad... but then another hand takes hers, and the trapped woman is pulled into our world. She has no idea who she is, but Rachel can’t help but think of the mystery of Oak Mary, a female corpse found in a hollow tree, and who was never identified. Three urban legends have grown up around the case; was Mary a Nazi spy, a prostitute or a gypsy witch? Rachel is desperate to learn the truth, but darker forces are at work. For a rule has been broken, and Mary is in a world where she doesn’t belong...
A REVIEW OF JAMES BROGDEN'S THE HOLLOW TREE
- An interview with Jamex Maxwell
Risingshadow has had the honour of interviewing the fantasy author James Maxwell.
This interview is part of the Iron Will Blog Tour.
About the author:
James Maxwell is the bestselling author of The Evermen Saga and The Shifting Tides series, and has previously ranked in the top 5 bestselling authors on Amazon worldwide. The final book in The Shifting Tides series, Iron Will, is out now in paperback with 47North, Amazon Publishing. Find out more about James and his books here.
About Iron Will:
The epic conclusion to James Maxwell’s gripping fantasy series.
The world is facing a war to end all wars, a confrontation that will destroy everything Dion and Chloe hold dear. With Palemon’s dragon army growing in number, time is running out...
Dion is doing everything in his power to prepare his kingdom, but he knows it will not be enough. Although he needs Chloe’s help, recent tragedy makes him terrified for her safety. Magic is dangerous. Only Palemon is too arrogant to see it.
As chaos engulfs the land and Palemon risks civilization itself, Dion and Chloe must unite people of all nations to have any chance of survival.
AN INTERVIEW WITH JAMES MAXWELL
- GUEST POST: You Spilled Your Weird Stuff In My Spy Stuff: Speculative Espionage Writing by S. L. Lahna
Risingshadow has the honour of publishing a guest post by S. L. Lahna.
About S. L. Lahna:
S. L. Lahna goes by they pronouns and knows way too much about Weird Things and Cold War history. Will tell you all of the reasons why James Bond is Wrong. They are hard at work on various novels for teens and adults. Some are about asexual magicians and their demonic mentors, some are about mentally-ill monster hunters, some are about pansexual teenage boys trying to survive a horror movie. Their day job is tearing apart books for money as a freelance editor at Word Vagabond. The Bulletproof Spy series is their debut novella.
About The Bulletproof Spy #1: The Silver Bullet Affair:
The year is 1965, and Alan Gable is the best spy America doesn’t know they have. Operating off books and outside the law, Alan has been tasked to do the impossible - get inside a laboratory in Moscow, get the Russian’s lead nuclear scientist, and get out, all without the KGB ever knowing he was there. No human could do it.
But Alan isn’t human.
Yulian’s life is perfect. A top counter-intelligence agent for the KGB, favored by the head of Section 1. His best friend is happily awaiting his first child. His indiscretions have remained discreet.
Until Dr. Tamm and his entire lab goes missing, and Yulian’s life starts to unravel.
The only way to survive long enough to get the bottom of the mystery is for Alan and Yulian to work together. If they can survive each other that is.
A madcap mashup of Hellboy and The Man From Uncle, the Silver Bullet Affair is a winning combination of espionage and the supernatural, an action-packed novella from start to finish lead by LGBT characters. Fans of the genre who’ve grown weary of the same old James Bond song and dance will find a new series to love with the Bulletproof Spy.
Links:
GUEST POST: You Spilled Your Weird Stuff In My Spy Stuff: Speculative Espionage Writing by S. L. Lahna
- An interview with S. L. Lahna
Risingshadow has had the honour of interviewing S. L. Lahna.
About S. L. Lahna:
S. L. Lahna goes by they pronouns and knows way too much about Weird Things and Cold War history. Will tell you all of the reasons why James Bond is Wrong. They are hard at work on various novels for teens and adults. Some are about asexual magicians and their demonic mentors, some are about mentally-ill monster hunters, some are about pansexual teenage boys trying to survive a horror movie. Their day job is tearing apart books for money as a freelance editor at Word Vagabond. The Bulletproof Spy series is their debut novella.
About The Bulletproof Spy #1: The Silver Bullet Affair:
The year is 1965, and Alan Gable is the best spy America doesn’t know they have. Operating off books and outside the law, Alan has been tasked to do the impossible - get inside a laboratory in Moscow, get the Russian’s lead nuclear scientist, and get out, all without the KGB ever knowing he was there. No human could do it.
But Alan isn’t human.
Yulian’s life is perfect. A top counter-intelligence agent for the KGB, favored by the head of Section 1. His best friend is happily awaiting his first child. His indiscretions have remained discreet.
Until Dr. Tamm and his entire lab goes missing, and Yulian’s life starts to unravel.
The only way to survive long enough to get the bottom of the mystery is for Alan and Yulian to work together. If they can survive each other that is.
A madcap mashup of Hellboy and The Man From Uncle, the Silver Bullet Affair is a winning combination of espionage and the supernatural, an action-packed novella from start to finish lead by LGBT characters. Fans of the genre who’ve grown weary of the same old James Bond song and dance will find a new series to love with the Bulletproof Spy.
Links:
AN INTERVIEW WITH S. L. LAHNA
- A review of Rhys Hughes' Sangria in the Sangraal
Rhys Hughes' Sangria in the Sangraal was published by Eibonvale Press in September 2016. It was originally published in 2011. This new edition contains two stories not incluced in the original.
Information about Rhys Hughes:
Rhys Hughes was born in 1966. Tartarus Press published his first collection, Worming the Harpy, in 1995, and since that time he has published more than thirty other books. His fiction is generally fantastical and his output mainly consists of short stories, though he has published several novels. His work is frequently compared to that of Boris Vian, Flann O'Brien and R.A. Lafferty, but he cites his major influences as Italo Calvino and Donald Barthelme. His three most recent books are the collections Bone Idle in the Charnel House (Hippocampus Press), Orpheus on the Underground (Tartarus Press) and Brutal Pantomimes (Egaeus Press). Fascinated by paradoxes, he incorporates them into his fiction as entertainingly as he can. Sangria in the Sangraal was inspired by a real visit to the town of Albarracín in the year 2007.
Click here to visit his official website.
Information about Sangria in the Sangraal:
An entire story-cycle in miniature. One thousand years of the remarkable magical history of a secret region of Spain where few people venture even now. Albarracín is a rose-red town tucked away in the mountains of Lower Aragon. Once the seat of an independent taifa during the dominance of the Caliphate of Cordoba, it remained saturated with ancient mystery long after the separated kingdoms of the peninsular were forged through conquest into the single nation we know today. In Albarracín still lurk the djinn of the wondrous past in their dusty bottles and the ghosts of heroes and villains locked in the crucibles of a rogue alchemist.
As Alarcon once wrote, “A happy time it was when our land still remained in peaceful possession of all the spider's webs, dust, woodworm, respect, faith, traditions, uses and abuses sanctified by the centuries!”
Above the roofs of the crumbling town serenely float the clouds; but these are not mindless puffs of vapour. On the contrary, they control the destinies of those who dwell below. In a modern world where the East is trying too hard to become the West, only Albarracín has successfully reversed the trend; for in this place the West always was the East; and the true flavour of Oriental magic remains bright on the tips of the swords, in the pulse of the hearts and on the rims of the cups of the men and gods who enter therein.
This new edition contains two stories not included in the original - Señor Chimera’s Hysterical History and The Bone Throwers.
A REVIEW OF RHYS HUGHES' SANGRIA IN THE SANGRAAL
- A review of Paul Stuempel and Cormac Lambe's Augee: Guardian of Hohala
Paul Stuempel and Cormac Lambe's Augee: Guardian of Hohala was published by Werner & Lawrence Publishing in November 2017.
Information about the authors:
Paul Stuempel is a native of Fort Thomas, Kentucky. His debut novel, Augee: Guardian of Hohala, is the first in the Augee series, an original saga imagined over four decades. Paul is based in Dayton, Kentucky where he lives with his wife, Rose Anne.
Cormac Lambe (PhD) is a writer, editor, and educator from Dundalk, Ireland, based in Atlanta, Georgia. His research interests are in Irish literary history. He lives with his fiancée, Amanda, and a cat named Elizabeth.
Click here to visit the official Augee website.
Information about Augee: Guardian of Hohala:
In the far-off land of Hohala, an isolated, prosperous nation is threatened by an impoverished and ruthless foreign race. Faced with extermination, the natives are forced into exile where danger and fear are ever-present. As his people struggle for survival, young Nicholas Stone uncovers an ancient secret, and a miracle is born. That miracle is Augee - Guardian of Hohala.
A REVIEW OF PAUL STUEMPEL AND CORMAC LAMBE'S AUGEE: GUARDIAN OF HOHALA
- A review of Brhel and Sullivan's Her Mourning Portrait and Other Paranormal Oddities
Brhel and Sullivan's Her Mourning Portrait and Other Paranormal Oddities was published by Cemetery Gates Media in January/February 2018.
Information about the authors:
John Brhel is a horror writer from upstate New York. His work has appeared in "The Vault of Ghastly Tales." He is the co-author of "Tales From Valleyview Cemetery"." He blogs at http://cemeterygatesmedia.tumblr.com/. His Twitter handle is @JohnBrhel.
Joseph Sullivan is a writer of horror tales (Tales from Valleyview Cemetery), occult fantasy (Marvelry's Curiosity Shop), explorer of urban legend (upcoming Route 12: The Legend Trip) hiker, songwriter, and co-founder of Cemetery Gates Media. His long-term writing goal is to combine his love of poetry, the American novel, and Upstate New York into one cohesive work of fiction.
Information about Her Mourning Portrait and Other Paranormal Oddities:
Her Mourning Portrait and Other Paranormal Oddities is the fifth anthology from Brhel & Sullivan. It is a collection of dark fantasy stories which focuses on the interplay between the euphoric and lamentable moments of romantic commitments. These ten tales are light romances, which take turns through various fantasy subgenres such as science fiction, the paranormal, the occult and the weird.
Such tales include: “Lady of Cayuga Lake,” which recounts the last hurrah of a separating husband and wife, a final vacation which takes a turn toward the paranormal when they both spy a ghost over the lake. Will they have what it takes to work together, confide in each other, and solve the mysterious disappearance of Mary Gold?
“The Lost Cache” tells of the strain an obsessive hobby can have on a marriage. Hillary appears to give Eric every chance to engage her, and work his way back toward an intimate companionship, even going so far as to plan out a special evening of hiking and geocaching in an old cemetery with her husband.
“Side by Side” is a quirky cemetery tale about a confrontation between a long-dead man and his widow’s second husband, regarding the final resting place of their beloved-in-common.
“Her, He, and a Corpse Makes Three” focuses on a love triangle between a living couple who work in a funeral home, and the woman’s recently deceased, yet spiritually returned ex-boyfriend.
A REVIEW OF BRHEL AND SULLIVAN'S HER MOURNING PORTRAIT AND OTHER PARANORMAL ODDITIES
- A review of Rebecca Hall's Instrument of Chaos
Rebecca Hall's Instrument of Chaos was published Elsewhen Press in a digital edition on 2nd January 2018 and will be published in paperback in March 2018.
Information about Rebecca Hall:
Rebecca started writing when she was supposed to be studying for her exams at Otago University but somehow passed anyway, eventually graduating with a decorative piece of paper. She moved to the UK to pursue a career in publishing and after a couple of mishaps ended up in Edinburgh and sold Instrument of Peace to Elsewhen Press, which is not quite the career she had in mind. The career she did have in mind was along more editorial lines which is why she is now a volunteer at Inspired Quill and a freelance copy-editor for everyone else. She also has a blog which she infrequently remembers to update, where those mysterious things known as short stories can be found.
Even after three years, she is baffled by the fact that the British use miles, pints and 1p coins but things like pineapple lumps, black forest chocolate and L&P have not caught on. Rebecca would like to make it very clear that she is a Kiwi and absolutely NOT an Australian (or South African) and she will do almost anything for chocolate.
Information about Instrument of Chaos:
The third book in the Symphony of the Cursed trilogy
The Angels are back
The long hidden heart of the Twisted Curse had been found, concealed in a realm that no angel can enter, where magic runs wild and time is just another direction. The Twisted Curse is the key to ending the Eternity War and it can only be broken by someone willing to traverse the depths of Faerie.
Unfortunately, Mitch has other things on his mind. For reasons that currently escape him he’s going to university, making regular trips to the Netherworld and hunting down a demon. The Academy might have prepared him for university but Netherworlds and demons were inexplicably left off the curriculum, not to mention curse breaking.
And then the Angels return, and this time they’re hunting his best friend.
Instrument of Chaos is the conclusion of the Symphony of the Cursed trilogy, as Mitch, Amelie and Nikola arrive in Dunedin in New Zealand to start their first year at the University of Otago.
A REVIEW OF REBECCA HALL'S INSTRUMENT OF CHAOS
- A review of Deborah Sheldon's Thylacines
Deborah Sheldon's Thylacines was published by Severed Press in January 2018.
Information about Deborah Sheldon:
Deborah Sheldon is an author of dark fiction and crime and is based in Melbourne.
Her fiction has appeared in various magazines such as Quadrant, Island, Aurealis, SQ Mag, and Midnight Echo, as well as in many anthologies. Latest releases, all traditionally published, include the horror novel, 'Devil Dragon', the crime-noir novellas, 'Dark Waters' and 'Ronnie and Rita', the crime-themed collection, 'Mayhem: selected stories', and the horror collection, 'Perfect Little Stitches and other stories'. Other credits include TV scripts; stage and radio plays; feature articles; non-fiction books; and award-winning medical writing.
Click here to visit her official website.
Information about Thylacines:
The Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, was hunted to extinction some eighty years ago. Now, Professor Rosie Giuliani and her staff at The Resurrection Lab have done the impossible: created a living, breathing litter from a preserved specimen. Yet Rosie can’t share this scientific breakthrough with the world. The cloned animals are more like monsters than thylacines. By chance, a small band of activists hears about the caged litter, and their decision to free the tigers will unleash a deadly havoc upon the campus of Fraser University.
A REVIEW OF DEBORAH SHELDON'S THYLACINES
- An interview with Michelle E. Lowe
Risingshadow has had the honour of interviewing Michelle E. Lowe.
Michelle E. Lowe is the author of The Warning, Atlantic Pyramid, Cherished Thief, the action adventure/fantasy novel with the elements of steampunk, titled Legacy. Children's books, Poe's Haunted House Tour, and the three part adventure children's series, The Hex Hunt. She is also a mother, wife, and painter. Her works in progress are the continuations for Legacy.
Links:
- Website: www.michellelowe.net
- Facebook: Facebook.com/michelleloweauthor
- Instagram: Michelle_lowe6
- Twitter: @MichelleLowe_7
- Legacy: https://www.facebook.com/legacynovelseries?ref=hl
AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHELLE E. LOWE
- A review of Brendan Connell's Pleasant Tales
Brendan Connell's Pleasant Tales was published by Eibonvale Press in November 2017.
Information about Brendan Connell:
Brendan Connell was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1970. He has had fiction published in numerous places, including McSweeney's, Adbusters, and the World Fantasy Award winning anthologies Leviathan 3 (The Ministry of Whimsy 2002), and Strange Tales (Tartarus Press 2003). His published books are: The Translation of Father Torturo (Prime Books, 2005), Dr. Black and the Guerrillia (Grafitisk Press, 2005), Metrophilias (Better Non Sequitur, 2010), Unpleasant Tales (Eibonvale Press, 2010), The Life of Polycrates and Other Stories for Antiquated Children (Chômu Press, 2011), The Architect (PS Publishing, 2012), Lives of Notorious Cooks (Chômu Press, 2012), Miss Homicide Plays the Flute (Eibonvale Press, 2013), The Cutest Girl in Class (co-written with Quentin S. Crisp and Justin Isis, Snuggly Books, 2013), The Galaxy Club (Chômu Press, 2014), The Metanatural Adventures of Dr. Black (PS Publishing, 2014), Cannibals of West Papua (Zagava, 2015), Jottings from a Far Away Place (Snuggly Books, 2015), Clark (Snuggly Books, 2016) and Pleasant Tales (Eibonvale Press, 2017).
Information about Pleasant Tales:
According to inductive process, the more weed someone smokes, the more likely they are to eat a green apple. Billy Glandzk has been smoking too much pot and hates apples, so it’s time for him to change his lifestyle. Justin Isis lives in a single tiny room in Ikebukuro but, through amore and refined fashion-sense, hopes to rise to higher spheres. Ricky Fishback is a bicycle cop who has spent too much time in the saddle, and his restless sex life is taking a turn for the worse. Can he get his mojo back? Carla Jo Arduini works at the Family Dollar Store, but her aspirations go higher - much higher. Will her faith guide her to success?
In Pleasant Tales, a contrasting follow-up to his critically acclaimed 2010 collection Unpleasant Tales, Brendan Connell has written ten unusual and colorful stories of contemporary life. The brittle and deranged mundanity that surrounds us is viewed through a lens that is both extremely perceptive and ever so slightly flawed, resulting in both an inverted projection of the familiar and a dose of the alien. These are modernist, sparse and slightly subversive expositions on the normal that perform a disjointed dance with the world you thought you knew.
A REVIEW OF BRENDAN CONNELL'S PLEASANT TALES
- Guest post by Lars-Henrik Olsen
Risingshadow has the honour of publishing a guest post by Lars-Henrik Olsen.
About the author:
Lars-Henrik Olsen is a Danish author. His oeuvre spans both children's and youth and adult books. He has written books about animals and nature, Nordic mythology and several historical novels. Among his more notable books are the Erik series. His books have been translated into a total of 13 different languages. In 1976 he published several nature books including Life in the sea: a food chain and Life in the forest: a circuit. His debut fiction novel was Wolves and then followed a series of books with animals and nature as a theme. In 1986 he was awarded The Danish Bookstores Auxiliary Society of Children's Book Prize for Erik Menneskeson. In 1988 this was followed by The dwarf from Normandy which won Denmark's school librarian Society of Children's Book Prize. Since then he has written a wealth of children’s and youth books, many of which are inspired by the Vikings, Norse mythology and medieval times.
A film is now being made of the Erik and the Gods in Denmark.
About Erik and the Gods: Journey to Valhalla:
The Gods have been fighting an endless war with the Giants and they’re slowly losing their powers.
During a terrible storm, Thor appears to Erik, an ordinary 13-year-old boy.
He sends Erik and his daughter on a mission to the Land of the Giants where they must find a Goddess with magic apples.
BUT TIME IS RUNNING OUT.
Can Erik rescue the Goddess from the Giants and prevent the End of the World?
GUEST POST BY LARS-HENRIK OLSEN
- A review of Camille Mauclair's The Frail Soul and Other Stories
Camille Mauclair's The Frail Soul and Other Stories was published by Snuggly Books in December 2017.
Information about Camille Mauclair and The Frail Soul and Other Stories:
"There are, Monsieur, the man with the singular eyes said to me, ill-intentioned people who look at me with an impertinent pity and claim that I am mad. They will tell you that, but do not believe them; I have pronounced that word in order to destroy in you immediately the striking impression that it produces. Those people are wicked; they were my friends once, but now they spy on me and say perfidious things about me, because they are jealous. And I shall tell you with what reason: they are jealous of not having understood their soul as well as me. There are people who cannot see and who wish ill on others because of that; but not everyone can sense things in the same way, can they, Monsieur? One must be reasonable."
Camille Mauclair's Les Clefs d'or, originally published in 1897, is one of the most significant Symbolist prose collections of the fin de siècle. The present volume, The Frail Soul and Other Stories, contains eleven pieces from this masterwork, brilliantly translated into English for the first time by Brian Stableford."Camille Mauclair" was the pseudonym of Séverin Faust (1872-1945), whose roman à clef Le Soleil es morts (1898) is an affectionate memoir of Mallarmé’s mardis, featuring many of the writers still in attendance in the 1890s. He was more prolific as an art critic and music critic than a poet or writer of fiction, and eventually became a specialist in non-fiction, but Les Clefs d’or (Ollendorf 1897), from which the contents of the present volume have been taken, is one of the most significant Symbolist prose collections of the fin de siècle. The material from Les Clefs d’or not in the present volume were published under the title The Virgin Orient and Other Stories (Black Coat Press 2016).
A REVIEW OF CAMILLE MAUCLAIR'S THE FRAIL SOUL AND OTHER STORIES
- A review of Rhys Hughes' Cloud Farming in Wales
Rhys Hughes' Cloud Farming in Wales was published by Snuggly Books in July 2017.
Information about Rhys Hughes:
Rhys Hughes was born in Wales but has lived in many different countries. He graduated as an engineer and currently works as a tutor of mathematics. He began writing fiction at an early age and his first book, Worming the Harpy, was published in 1995. Since that time he has published more than thirty other books. His short stories have been translated into ten languages. He is nearing the end of an ambitious project to complete a cycle of exactly 1000 linked tales. His most recent book is the collection The Seashell Contract and he is hard at work on an experimental novel called Comfy Rascals. Fantasy, humour, satire, science fiction, adventure, irony, paradoxes and philosophy are combined in his work to create a distinctive style.
Click here to visit his official website.
Information about Cloud Farming in Wales:
In Wales it never stops raining. Or almost never. When it does stop raining from the sky, it rains from hearts instead. Indoors as well as outdoors, the people huddle in the endless drenchings, and over time they have evolved into aquatic creatures who only look and behave like men and women but aren’t really. There is a clue in the name of the country. Wales is a nation with no spot of dry land within its borders. Wales is an Atlantis that never stayed under but is just as wet. Crammed with mythical beings and happenings, Cloud Farming in Wales palpitates, germinates and extrapolates, but never evaporates, and the sodden heroes that wade and slosh through the mighty puddles of its pages are generally in search of a canoe.
A REVIEW OF RHYS HUGHES' CLOUD FARMING IN WALES
- Exclusive excerpt from Embers of War by Gareth L. Powell
Risingshadow has the honour of hosting an exclusive excerpt from Embers of Wars by Gareth L. Powell.
This blog post is part of The Embers of Wars Blog Tour.
Embers of Wars was published by Titan Books in February 2018.
About the author:
Gareth is the author of five science-fiction novels and two short story collections. His third novel, Ack-Ack Macaque, book one in the Macaque Trilogy, was the winner of the 2013 BSFA novel award. He lives in Bristol, UK.
Find him on Twitter @garethlpowell.
Click here to visit his official website.
About Embers of Wars:
The sentient warship Trouble Dog was built for violence, yet following a brutal war, she is disgusted by her role in a genocide. Stripped of her weaponry and seeking to atone, she joins the House of Reclamation, an organisation dedicated to rescuing ships in distress. When a civilian ship goes missing in a disputed system, Trouble Dog and her new crew of loners, captained by Sal Konstanz, are sent on a rescue mission.
Meanwhile, light years away, intelligence officer Ashton Childe is tasked with locating the poet, Ona Sudak, who was aboard the missing spaceship. What Childe doesn’t know is that Sudak is not the person she appears to be. A straightforward rescue turns into something far more dangerous, as Trouble Dog, Konstanz and Childe find themselves at the centre of a conflict that could engulf the entire galaxy. If she is to save her crew, Trouble Dog is going to have to remember how to fight...
Exclusive excerpt from Embers of War by Gareth L. Powell
- Ritualist
(The Completionist Chronicles #1) by Dakota Krout
March 15, 2018 | fantasyA game that puts all others to shame. Magic that has been banned from the world. A man willing to learn no matter the cost.
The decision to start a new life is never an easy one, but for Joe the transition was far from figurative. Becoming a permanent addition to a game world, it doesn't take long to learn that people with his abilities are actively hunted. In fact, if the wrong people gained knowledge of what he was capable of, assassins would appear in droves.
In his pursuit of power, Joe fights alongside his team, completes quests, and delves into the mysteries of his class, which he quickly discovers can only be practiced in secret. Ultimately, his goal is to complete every mission, master every ability, and learn all of the world's secrets.
All he has to do is survive long enough to make that happen.
- A Veil of Spears
(The Song of the Shattered Sands #3) by Bradley P. Beaulieu
March 19, 2018 | fantasy > high fantasyThe third book in The Song of Shattered Sands series — an epic fantasy with a desert setting, filled with rich worldbuilding and pulse-pounding action.
Since the Night of Endless Swords, a bloody battle the Kings of Sharakhai narrowly won, the kings have been hounding the rebels known as the Moonless Host. Many have been forced to flee the city, including Çeda, who discovers that the King of Sloth is raising his army to challenge the other kings’ rule.
When Çeda finds the remaining members of the Moonless Host, now known as the thirteenth tribe, she sees a tenuous existence. Çeda hatches a plan to return to Sharakhai and free the asirim, the kings’ powerful, immortal slaves. The kings, however, have sent their greatest tactician, the King of Swords, to bring Çeda to justice for her crimes.
But the once-unified front of the kings is crumbling. The surviving kings vie quietly against one another, maneuvering for control over Sharakhai. Çeda hopes to use that to her advantage, but whom to trust? Any of them might betray her.
As Çeda works to lift the shackles from the asirim and save the thirteenth tribe, the kings of Sharakhai, the scheming queen of Qaimir, the ruthless blood mage, Hamzakiir, and King of Swords all prepare for a grand clash that may decide the fate of all.
- Tiger's Dream
(The Tiger\'s Curse Saga #5) by Colleen Houck
March 20, 2018 | fantasy, young adultA tiger left behind.
A goddess in need of an ally.
Stranded in a time and place he never wished for, Kishan Rajaram must carry out his destiny of assisting the beautiful yet extremely irritable goddess Durga. This daunting task is not made easy by the fact that he must also face the truth about the girl he loves and the brother who stole her away.
When the wily shaman Phet appears and tells Kishan that Kelsey needs him, he jumps at the chance to see her again. In his efforts to save her, Kishan discovers that the curse he thought was over is just beginning. As time unravels around him, Kishan realizes that the fates of all those he holds dear lie in hands.
The goddess’s power hangs in the balance. Kishan has no choice but to sacrifice the unthinkable to fight the dark forces swirling around the woman he’s charged to protect. As he does, he discovers that love and loyalty create their own magic and accepts that he must decide his destiny once and for all.
Tiger’s Dream is the conclusion to the epic Tiger’s Curse fantasy romance series that left you breathless.
- Burn Bright
(Alpha and Omega #5) by Patricia Briggs
March 5, 2018 | fantasy > urban fantasy, romance > urban fantasy > paranormal romanceIn her bestselling Alpha and Omega series, Patricia Briggs "spins tales of werewolves, coyote shifters, and magic and, my, does she do it well" (USATODAY.com). Now mated werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Latham face a threat like no other - one that lurks too close to home...
They are the wild and the broken. The werewolves too damaged to live safely among their own kind. For their own good, they have been exiled to the outskirts of Aspen Creek, Montana. Close enough to the Marrok's pack to have its support; far enough away to not cause any harm.
With their Alpha out of the country, Charles and Anna are on call when an SOS comes in from the fae mate of one such wildling. Heading into the mountainous wilderness, they interrupt the abduction of the wolf - but can't stop blood from being shed. Now Charles and Anna must use their skills - his as enforcer, hers as peacemaker - to track down the attackers, reopening a painful chapter in the past that springs from the darkest magic of the witchborn...
- The Last Jedi
(Star Wars) by Jason Fry
March 5, 2018 | science fiction > space operaWritten with input from director Rian Johnson, this official adaptation of Star Wars: The Last Jedi expands on the film to include scenes from alternate versions of the script and other additional content.
From the ashes of the Empire has arisen another threat to the galaxy’s freedom: the ruthless First Order. Fortunately, new heroes have emerged to take up arms — and perhaps lay down their lives — for the cause. Rey, the orphan strong in the Force; Finn, the ex-stormtrooper who stands against his former masters; and Poe Dameron, the fearless X-wing pilot, have been drawn together to fight side-by-side with General Leia Organa and the Resistance. But the First Order’s Supreme Leader Snoke and his merciless enforcer Kylo Ren are adversaries with superior numbers and devastating firepower at their command. Against this enemy, the champions of light may finally be facing their extinction. Their only hope rests with a lost legend: Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.
Where the action of Star Wars: The Force Awakens ended, Star Wars: The Last Jedi begins, as the battle between light and dark climbs to astonishing new heights.
Featuring an 8-page color photo insert of thrilling images from the hit movie
New Releases
- River of Fire
(Warriors: A Vision of Shadows #5) by Erin Hunter
April 10, 2018 | fantasy > animal fantasy, young adult > animal fantasyErin Hunter’s #1 bestselling Warriors series continues! Discover more epic adventures in the fifth book in this sixth action-packed story arc. Each hardcover also includes a double-sided jacket with a bonus poster!
The forest is free of Darktail and his vicious rogues, and the long-lost SkyClan has returned to its place among the other four warrior Clans. With StarClan’s prophecy fulfilled, many cats believe the danger is past. But after moons of division and strife, ShadowClan is in danger of falling apart forever...
With more than twenty-one million copies sold, the Warriors series has been flying off the shelves for fourteen years and counting. A Vision of Shadows is the perfect introduction for readers new to the Warriors world, while existing fans will be thrilled to return to the days of Bramblestar and ThunderClan, after the events of Omen of the Stars.
Each hardcover in the Vision of Shadows series will also include a double-sided jacket with a bonus poster!
- Circe
by Madeline Miller
April 10, 2018 | fantasy > historical fantasyIn the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child - not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power - the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.
But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.
With unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language and page-turning suspense, Circe is a triumph of storytelling, an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man's world.
- Grey Sister
(Book of the Ancestor #2) by Mark Lawrence
April 3, 2018 | fantasy > high fantasyIn Mystic Class Nona Grey begins to learn the secrets of the universe. But so often even the deepest truths just make our choices harder. Before she leaves the Convent of Sweet Mercy Nona must choose her path and take the red of a Martial Sister, the grey of a Sister of Discretion, the blue of a Mystic Sister or the simple black of a Bride of the Ancestor and a life of prayer and service.
All that stands between her and these choices are the pride of a thwarted assassin, the ambition of a would-be empress wielding the Inquisition like a blade, and the vengeance of the empire’s richest lord.
As the world narrows around her, and her enemies attack her through the system she has sworn to, Nona must find her own path despite the competing pull of friendship, revenge, ambition, and loyalty.
And in all this only one thing is certain.
There will be blood.
- Stormcaster
(Shattered Realms #3) by Cinda Williams Chima
April 3, 2018 | fantasy > high fantasy, young adult > high fantasyThe third book in the thrilling four-book Shattered Realms series from New York Times bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima
The empress in the east — the unspeakably cruel ruler whose power grew in Flamecaster and Shadowcaster — tightens her grip in this chilling third installment in the series.
Vagabond seafarer Evan Strangward can move the ocean and the wind, but his magical abilities seem paltry in comparison to Empress Celestine’s. As Celestine’s bloodsworn armies grow, Evan travels to the Fells to warn the queendom of her imminent invasion. If he can’t convince the Gray Wolf queen to take a stand, he knows that the Seven Realms will fall. Among the dead will be the one person Evan can’t stand to lose.
Meanwhile, the queen’s formidable daughter, Princess Alyssa ana’Raisa, is already a prisoner aboard the empress’s ship. Lyss may be the last remaining hope of bringing down the empress from within her own tightly controlled territory.
Multiple intricately interwoven storylines converge in this gripping novel about a brave, coordinated effort to undermine a horrific tyrant.
- The Thief
(Black Dagger Brotherhood #16) by J. R. Ward
April 3, 2018 | fantasy, romance > paranormal romanceNew enemies rise and desire burns in the next thrilling novel of the #1 New York Times bestselling paranormal romance series the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
Sola Morte, former cat burglar and safecracker, has given up her old life on the wrong side of the law. On the run from a drug lord’s family, she is lying low far from Caldwell, keeping her nose clean and her beloved grandmother safe. Her heart, though, is back up north, with the only man who has ever gotten through her defenses: Assail, son of Assail, who never meant to fall in love — and certainly not with a human woman. But they have no future, and not just because she doesn’t know he is a vampire, but because he is not about to stop dealing arms to the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Fate, however, has other plans for them. When Assail falls into a coma and lingers on the verge of death, his cousins seek out Sola and beg her to give him a reason to live. The last thing she wants is a return to her past, but how can she leave him to die?
As a lethal new enemy of the vampires shows its face, and the Brotherhood needs Assail back on his feet, Sola finds herself not only a target, but a mission-critical force in a war she doesn’t understand. And when Assail’s truth comes out, will she run from the horror... or follow her heart into the arms of the male who loves her more than life itself?